Coordinated battery construction



March 14, 19133. L., G. TYATRo 1,901,272

COORDINATED BATTERY CONSTRUCTION Filed -April 16, 1930 0 1 T fl---:-w

I9 J9@ l.

w MMI# [MIMIIIIII 4 Mat/kung# Patented Mar. 4, 19.33u

narran STATES* Puerta Fries LYsLEG. TATRO, or nECoRAH, Town', AssYTGNoR To n. B. MONTGOMERY, or nnooRAI-r,

IOWA

ooonnrirATEn BATTERY coiirsTRUoTION n I Application med Aprilia, 1930. serial No. 444,822.

This invention relates to a coordination of batteries for supplying a plurality ofcircuits at diferentpotentials, such as the B or.B and C batteries .and lcircuits of radio receivers, and aims `to so coordinate the cells utilized in the several circuits that all cells will haveapproximately the same effective life under the drain to which they are subjected so that the entire set of batteries will become substantially exhausted at substantially the same time.

A further aim of my invention is to coordinate the cells in this manner so that the cells for a plurality of circuits, (which may be overlapping circuits as a pluralityof B circuits) may be encasedas a single unit to be simultaneously replaced, without likli'- hood that cells having substantial residual life will have to Vbe discarded because the exhaustion of other cells in the unit render it unfit for further service. f 1

A further aim of my invention is to improve the efliciency and construction of such battery units.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following description of 'preferred forms of batteries embodying my invention, and it is not intended to exclude such other objects and advantages of my invention by the enumeration of those that I now consider `to be the most important.

Referring to the drawing constituting! a part of this specification: n I

Fig. l is a perspective view of a preferred form of my B and C power unit, with vrhe casing torn away to show the internal arrangement;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of the arrangement of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view through a modified form of B and C unit according to my invention;

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view taken on line ifl of Fig. 3, showing in plan the short layer thereof;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the deep layer of the same, taken at line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a diagram of the arrangement-of cells according to Figs. 3, i and 5; and

the; battery proper.

' Fig. 7 -is a perspective view of one form of a battery connecting cable strip according to my invention which cooperates with Ordinary multiple-voltage B batteries for supplyinga high B potential to the amplifier tubes and less B potential to the detector tube' of vradio receivers, 'as heretofore constructed have been providedxwith a tapped in lead intermediate the ends of the battery to Asupplyfthe lower B potential for the detector tube.y The tapped B batteries have been objectionable because of the fact that the cells of the battery have. all had the'same current generating capacity with the result that substantial exhaustion of the cells supplying plate current for the detector aswell as the amplifier tubes has rendered uselessgand madeit necessary to l discard the B- battery'fbloclr asia whole, 70 long before the cells vdrawn upony by the nfnplifier tubes only haveA served theirA full r1 e.

My invention largely'v eliminates this objection by proportioning the current generating capacity of the cells of eachportion of the battery tothe current drain to 'which they will be normally subjected in use;` and so far as l' am aware, no one has heretofore proposed a B or B and C power-battery unit proportioned in this way to effect compactness and insure complete efficiency and use of all the current generating capacity of the unit, so that there need be no loss or waste of unexpended energy by replac- S5 ing in entirety the B and C power lsupvLio block drawn upon only to supply plate current for the amplifier tubes. These cells 10 and 11 are preferably proportioned to have relative current generating capacities approximating the relative current drains to which they will be subjected in normal use.

By this construction I am able to provide a battery having the same life as though all the cells therein were the same size as the largest cell therein, while at the same time I reduce the size and weight of the battery materially, reduce the amount of material used in making it, and cheapen its cost.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, illustrative of one construction embodying my invention, the power unit therein disclosed comprises a casing made up oa bottom 12 and side walls 13, forming a box to receive the cells 10 and 11 and the insulating strips 14 separating said cells 'from one another.

In the construction of this form of battery I prefer to assemble the cells in two individuall blocks. as shown, one block being made up of the short cells 11 having a relatively small current` generating capacity,

and the other block being made upY of the deep cells 10, of greater current generating capacity, the difference in current generating capacity of the two groups of cells being approximately suihcient to take care of the added detector tube, so that all the Vcells will become substantially exhausted at the same time.

Thus, assuming that the battery is designed for usev with a set having 6 milliamperes drain throughout the block due to the drain of the amplifier tubes, and 3 milliamperesadditional drain across the larger cells due to the drain of the detector tube, the larger cells would be of such size as to have the same service life at 9 milliamperes drain as the smaller cells would have at 6 milliamperes drain, so that all the cells would become exhausted at about the saine time.

In making up the battery shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the deep cells l0 are assembled with separator sheets 14, which may be assembled in egg-crate style, and these cells are then connected in series, and the smaller cells are similarly assembled; I prefer for simplicity of constructionV to employ cells,

of the same diameter and varying depth, as shown, but my invention is not limited in this respect, as cells'of varying diameter and/or length may be used, although the assemblage will not be as simple.

The two groups of cells having been assembled with their insulating'sheets are next placed in juxtaposed position, as shown, lwith the insulating 'sheet 15 interposed between them.A

The wire 16 is soldered in place connecting the positive end of the group of large cells to the negative end of the groupof'small cells and a tapping wire 17 is connected at necessary for the successful operation of the receiver with which the battery is to be used, so that instead of taking my negative B lead from the negative end of the large group of cells, I may choose an intermediate point in the first group of cells and lower my B voltages accordingly, reservingV the cells thus yunused for B voltage, to constitute my C battery, the positive side ofv which is almost always connected to the negative Yside ofthe B battery.

I accordingly tap into my group of larger cells with the wire 19 constituting the +B and +C lead, and solder ,a fourth lead 20 to the negative side of the entire group of large cells to constitute a C lead.

The -C,+C and -B, +B detector and+B amplifier leads 20, 19, 17 and 18, respectively, are brought out through binding posts orother terminals 22, 23, 24 and 25, respectively, located in the top of the box, which may be suitably sealed in with insulating wax 26; and in order to prevent improper connection of my battery cable connectorshown in Fig. 7, I also provide means insuring the proper positioning of the same, whichV may take the iorin of a pin 27 adapted to be engaged by a hole 28 in the connector strip 21, which in the form shown is provided with tubular rivets 29 supplied with soldering lugs 30 to which are soldered in the proper order the B'and'C battery leads of the battery cable 31.

The form or my improved B and C battery unit above described applies my invention only to the B battery cells, because for simplicityl of construction, and because lof the small number oi cells used for the C supply, it might not be considered a great waste to sacrifice the C cells if they were not completely exhausted when those of the B battery became so. Y

However, I contemplate that the C cells may be. proportioned to have an eiiective life at the normal C current drain more nearly equal to the eiiective life of the B cells, and in Fig. 3, I have shown an assemblage wherein the C cells are of decreased size more nearly proportionate to the C drain,-and arranged so that a full layer of large cells may be had to provide B detector voltage, while an almost full layer is available for the added B amplifier voltage.

In Figs. 3 to 6, inclusive, the large cells 10a are connected in series and the -B and +C lead 19EL is connected to the negative side of the group of large cells, while the +B detector7 lead 17a is connected to the positive side of the group of large cells. The lead 16a connects the positive side of the group of large cells 10a1 to the negative side of the groupof smaller cells l1JL and the +B amplifier lead 18a connects to the positive side of the group of cells 11a. Instead of using several of the large cells for the C battery, in this arrangement all the larger cells l()av are connected in the B battery and in place of one of the smaller cells lla, a C battery unit of still smaller cells 32 is inserted as shown, these cells 32 being connected inseries and provided with a short positive and long negative lead as shown. The short positive lead is soldered to the shell of the cell l0a "at the negative side of the B battery, as shown at 33, Fig. 3, and the long negative lead constitutes the C connection of the unit. Y

In this form of the device the -C,B and +C, d-Bdetector, and lV-B amplilier leads 22a, 23, 24a and 25, respectively, as of the snap fastener post type, and havev indicated how they may be irregularly spaced to insurer that the connector' strip, which would resemble that shown in Fig. 7 except that single or double sided snap fastener sockets would be substituted for the rtubular rivets 29, can be permanently attached in but one way, the

right way.

It will be noted that the vmeans 27-28 (Figs. l and 7) for insuring proper connection of the connector strip to the battery, if symmetrically positioned with respect to the center-line of the connections, will enable the strip to be attached either with the soldering lugs 30 directed over the edge of the battery or away from the edge of thebattery; the former connection being useful when the battery cable is short, and the latter connection offering better protection to the soldering lugs if the battery cable is long enough to enable connection across the width of the battery or to enable it rto be bent back on itself.

It will be further noted that in Fig. l I have shown the cells assembled on their sides, while in Fig. 3 I have shown them standing upright. The latter arrangement is the one that I prefer and think the best from the standpoint of preventing drying out of thel cells should side-wall leaks occur therein, but the former is frequentlyadvantageous to produce a better shaped unit, and cells of the non-dr in@ t e as now known on the I have shown market will ,obviate any danger of drying out of'a leaky cell. Y

Proving a B or a B and C unit according to my inventionl insures thatV before failure of the unit substantially all the effective life of substantially all the cells will have` been made use of, in contradistinction to the ordinary tapped B unit in which the cells drawn upon by thedetectorv and amplifier tubesbecome exhausted long before the entire life of the cells drawn upon by the amplifier tubes alone has been served. Moreover, my unit construction insures replacement of all the B and C battery supplies at the same time, which is essential for the best results with the receiver.

Having described what I consider to be the best embodiments of my invention I wish'it to be distinctly understood, however, that the specific descriptions above are not intended to: be limiting, but are intended to be merely illustrative and that I claim as my invention all equivalents of the combinations and features of my invention set forth in my claims. v

I claim:

` l. A B and C battery unit comprising a unitary casing, a B Y battery enclosed therein a C battery also enclosed therein, said C battery having an effective life at the contemplated C current drain, at least equal to the effective life of the B battery under'the contemplated"B current drain, said B batterybeing comprised of a plurality' of blocks `of cells one cells of the same diameter as those of the` l first group but relatively short in comparison thereto, said two groups of cells being assembled in diametricallysuperposed relation in said casing, and terminals carried by said casing connected to the ends of said two groups of cells, substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. A B and C battery unit comprising a casing containing a block of relatively deep series connected cells, a group of series connected cells of the same diameter as the cells of said first block, but of less depth and of fewer cells, and an assembly ofcells of substantially the same depth as the cells of the said group, but of less diameter, said assembly of cells being positioned adjacent said group o-f cells and forming therewith a block substantially equal in area to Ysaid first block of cells, a connection from the positive side of said assembly of smallestl cells to the negative side of saidblock of largest cells and a lead therefrom, a con-l nection from the positive side of said block of largest cells to the negative side of saidgroup of cells and a lead therefrom, andleads connected to the negative side of said assembly of smallest Cells and the positive' side `of said blockl of largest cells, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony Whereof,.I have signed my name to this specification. e

' LYSLE Gr. TATRO. 

